


nebula

by czerni



Category: Hyouka & Kotenbu Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crush, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Conflict, F/M, Introspection, Light Angst, Not Beta Read, Pining, Post-Anime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 12:09:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20582273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/czerni/pseuds/czerni
Summary: “Oreki-san you are the mystery I want to figure out the most.”





	nebula

Chitanda has nebula eyes.

That is the first thing Houtarou thinks about when he meets her, because that’s the first thing about her he actually sees. It’s like a passing thought that breaks into his mind without his permission in the very moment their eyes meet; and which fades just as quickly after that, as if it had never been there in the first place.

And he doesn’t care the slightest about it, honestly. He doesn’t— but—

_But._

X

Suddenly:

She grabs his hands in hers and her eyes shine with an alarming (and unnatural) intensity; and all of that should be enough for Oreki to choose to run away— _not actually running_ _of course_; that would go against his so called save energy lifestyle after all. To free himself from her grip and go to any other place instead of the Classics Club room and, if possible, avoid that place for the rest of his high-schooler life even if that meant disappointing his sister in the process.

However, he doesn’t do that— he doesn’t leave (her) the room. Instead, he almost freezes when he sees her approach him with a tangible excitement, her face getting closer a closer to his until they breathe the same air and their noses brush against each other —that would later become a habit to her, much to his own frustration and the mourning of his poor mental health.

He gets lost in her eyes of blooming flowers and her night sky hair that loom over him like vines of which he couldn’t get rid of even if he tried. He doesn’t.

(he wants to, or rather—)

Then he blinks and the vision in front of him disappears. He notices that Chitanda isn’t as close to him as he had believed just seconds ago, though she is still close enough for it to be considered a clear violation to his personal space. Oreki also realizes that her hair isn’t looming over him like he had imagined _obviously_— but, for some reason, he still feels like as if there is _something _between them— a something that has linked their lives together against his will. And, at the same time, that something tells him that he should start to say goodbye to his lazy lifestyle from now on.

X

Just as he had imagined, Chitanda Eru ends up being a big threat to his motto in life. With her innate curiosity and her “_I can’t stop thinking about it_” and her shiny eyes and the way she grabs his wrist and drags him around the school —quite literally— to solve any daily mystery that gets her attention and—

He ends up getting used to this new reality, much to his surprise.

(but it’s not like he makes an effort to change it and go back to the way things were before, anyways).

So it becomes an almost daily routine to solve mystery after mystery in their free time; from the simplest, easiest ones, to those that would take them entire days of investigation to find the right answer to them.

And— he doesn’t say it out loud, but it’s pretty obvious, to Satoshi, Ibara and even to him, that all he does he does it for her. For Chitanda and her transparent gaze that have made him start to live his life, in some way or another.

X

Chitanda has nebula eyes— Houtarou sees through them and ends up losing himself once again. And everything is so complicated, suddenly; too complicated for someone like him.

And, before, he could easily complain to himself about Satoshi and his entire dilemma regarding Ibara’s feelings for him— but now he realizes that he is being a hypocrite for doing so; especially when he now knows how that has to feel.

Because here they are, Chitanda and he, standing under cherry trees— like a cliche picture from one of those mangas for girls— with words that he doesn’t have the courage to say out loud getting stuck in his throat. He just _can’t_ say them, and so they stay right there so close and so far away from each other at the same time, while the pink petals start to fall over them and

(he can’t help but think about the beautiful contrast of Chitanda’s silhouette and her dark hair against the cherry flowers.)

the spring is here.

X

Every person has heard the phrase _curiosity killed the cat_ at least once in their lives— everyone but Chitanda, apparently.

He has known that since he met her, but he reaffirms it when he sees the way she looks at him longer than necessary, with a silent question in her eyes. And it surprises him because, in any other circumstance, she wouldn’t hesitate for one second to lean a little bit too close towards him and tell him about whatever was concerning her.

But this time she doesn’t do that. Instead she stares at him with a nonsensical shyness that doesn’t fit her at all, as she smiles sweetly. Houtarou feels his heart beating hard and his cheeks blushing and he curses the curious nature of Chitanda Eru— He can tell she is starting to suspect _something_, and he knows very well that nothing in this world would get those ideas out of her head, even if he tried to.

X

(…and the true is that he doesn’t)

X

“Oreki-san.”

“…Uhm?”

He keeps his eyes on the pages of his book, trying not to think about Chitanda’s eyes fixed on him.

It doesn’t work.

She takes her time before she replies to him, leaning her body and putting her weight on the table between them, as she always does.

“What are you thinking about?” it’s what she asks him.

Oreki frowns slightly and looks away from his book, just to find Chitanda’s face dangerously close to his. This time he doesn’t react, not visibly at least— he has get used to having her invading his space without noticing, he supposes, even as his heartbeats try to tell him a different story.

“Why do you ask?” he says.

“Well I… You’ve been acting different lately.”

_Different?_

Chitanda looks straight into his eyes, and he can tell from her nervous smile how much she wants to just directly ask him what’s going on and put an end to all of this, to her doubts and questions. But then, what would he answer?

In any other situation he would help her solve the mysteries that intrigued her so much, but right now—

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

He wouldn’t tell her. He _can’t_ tell her. No; at least for now.

And he really is starting to understand Satoshi’s actions. Because he doesn’t know what to do, what to _say_ in this moment either; he doesn’t know how to act and it is _so frustrating_. What he feels about Chitanda overwhelms him and he can’t even remember when things started to be that way. It wouldn’t have been like this before, but it all have had started to change since the moment they met, when her constant presence in his life began to crack his monotonous daily life with wonder and different perspectives.

“I see,” Chitanda mumbles quietly.

She hesitates for a moment before she smiles to him again, in that way only she knows how to and that makes Oreki’s hands shake. She smiles with something like— _love_— affection in her features and Houtarou’s mouth goes dry, he isn’t able to complain not even when she takes his hands in hers —just like she did that day—, intertwining their fingers gently.

He gets lost in her eyes—

her nebula eyes;

her eyes of blooming flowers and flickering fireflies;

her _oh_ so bright and kind eyes—

and he can’t help thinking about what he really wants to answer to her. Would he finally say those words someday or would he just stay silent and let her walk away from him, even when they were so close physically speaking? Would he do that again?

_What are you thinking about Oreki-san?_

He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t _want_ to know.

X

(but he does.)

X

Then

“Oreki-san you are the mystery I want to figure out the most.”

(_you, I’m thinking about you._)

it is still spring and Houtarou swears he can see the cherry flowers' reflection in Chitanda’s eyes.


End file.
